Who thought this is a quintessential album that everyone needs to hear? It's really mediocre when they're not on stage. Their stage presence is legendary, but their music is milquetoast. I do hear where others gathered some influence, QOTSA's songs for the dead and Weezer's entire catalog.

Banger after banger. Cloud Nine is funky fresh from start to finish. Clean tasty bass

Oh I've listened to this many times. For a couple of kooks, even the filler tracks are great.

Classic.

Blue skies with fresh ears sounds really good and I love how he double times at the end, stretching it out further and further. All in all, well made, but it's so easy listening, I get a little anxious for noise

Oh this is music from my high school days. I've listened to this more than a few times. Elephant is a better record overall, so I'm not quite sure how this is here.

I learned a lot while listening to this album. When the RZA would make a fresh beat, the clan would rap battle for the rights to use it. Word warrior quality control. If you couldn't spit it, youd never get it. Amazing. The energy is so positive. Method reflects light and love against the backdrop of a violent and turbulent world. Wu Tang really is forever.

I've listened to this album at least 100 times. We played Chameleon in high school jazz band and I loved that bass riff so much. My friends hated Watermelon Man when I played it, but I think it's a banger. I like Thrust better, but this is still a masterpiece.

The arpeggios in the bridge of the first track are awesome. Prescient of what's coming in the 80s. Opening bass lick is sick af in Princess of the Streets. Vocals remind me of Zappa. That build up at the end of Down in the Sewer, so tight. Solid album, some of these songs are going into a heavier rotation

Orchestration on this album is top tier. The singles are so universally known, they overshadow the sleeper tracks by a lot, which makes it feel lopsided. It's all tight, and Bernie Taupin made some really interesting lyrical choices.

Oh this is a five star album. Relisten for the umpteenth time. And time is really what it's all about, in jazz and in life. Take Five is a standard. Blue Rondo is a standard. This is an album of standards. Simple hops from time signature to time signature simply as the river flows.

Who thought this is a quintessential album that everyone needs to hear? It's really mediocre when they're not on stage. Their stage presence is legendary, but their music is milquetoast. I do hear where others gathered some influence, QOTSA's songs for the dead and Weezer's entire catalog.

Icarus Line kicking out the jams! Feeling some heavy Iggy Pop and MC5 vibes off this record.

Anytime music Solid record through and through, made me nostalgic

Thrashy, but forgettable. It may be technically difficult, but it sounds like every hair metal album. Maybe that's why it's great, maybe that's why it's so middle of the road for me.

Waffle between three and four. It's complex and interesting, but it doesn't all sound good to me. I might need to listen to it a few more times to know for sure whether it's just noise or whether it works for me. There's so much going on in the background, I couldn't digest the lyrics without intentionally digging into them. So far, I like the idea of Siouxsie and the Banshees more than the execution, but we're giving an extra star for their cultural impact.

Excellent album. A worthy 21st century addition. Compton's new prodigal son making a big splash with this record, torn between the conscious realization that a hard world demands hardiness, and the artists desire to bare his altruist heart.

This one snuck up on me. How is Bjork so freaking cool? Channelling Blondie and the Pretenders. Was this band what catapulted her to the zeitgeist? How have I never heard this before? Is this Iceland's response to Echo and the Bunnymen? Punky new wave, proto-grunge? Unique sound combinations that unlock new neural pathways. This is an album that demands another listen.

If you only ever hear Bruce Springsteen on the radio you might think his Americana energy is good old boy music for blind patriots. There is patriotism there, but it's the sort of self-reflective, introspective patriotism that fuels the fires of change. It's a battle cry to overcome the grim beat of the paranoid streets, rise up from this broken system, reclaim what is rightfully ours. He echos the cognitive dissonance of the American ideals with the American reality. It's about freedom, truth, beauty and love. America is Bohemia if you want it to be, and Springsteen's words and music make me think it's still possible.

Hmmm, there is a lot to appreciate here. Floating between a 2 and 3 my appreciation of the musicianship and my lack of enjoyment. The layers are dense and nicely orchestrated. I would need to sit with the words longer to work out clearly the primary themes. I won't do this, because Im not actually enjoy listening to it for the length of the record. It plods along like a slushy trudge through someone else's neighborhood. What are you hinting at, my dudes? Why are we stuck at 110 bpm? Why does this music feel so impotent? They're so restrained I feel like I'm handcuffed.

I like want two better, but this is good.

Wish there were half stars because this sits between 4 and 5 for me.

Yep

Sunshine came softly, ah to my, ah window today.

Many memories around this one. Speaks volumes that this isn't even close to the best Who album, but it's still a masterpiece

Cooking with great balls of fire

Manzarek Inn

I love this. Playful dance music. Listen to this with headphones. Fun with stereo. Crunchy crunchy bass really pops the sound into 3d.

This one remains in my semi regular rotation. Five star mood intensifier. Epitome of cool. I can only imagine being a fly on the wall in that room while Air was spitballing for this. Did they read the book? How did they come to that playground love riff? Sexy, grounded, ebbing, flowing, feeling. The saxophone gets me every time. This soundtrack elevates and transcends it's source.

I dunno about this. I played it in the background and I didn't hate it but nothing stood out as remarkably wonderful or remarkably terrible. I vaguely recall some interesting chord progressions and odd orchestrations, but is innovative synonymous with essential?

Easily the best album of the 80s.

Some good tunes, but I remember absolutely zilch

Boomer rock. This book was written by mostly boomers, wasn't it? This is just fine music, but it feels like modern chamber music. I dunno. It's fine.

It's fine music, Dad.

Top ten for me I have this one on vinyl and I treasure it

Revolutionary music Reggae is so politically charged, delving into an ugly history, but the music is so uplifting. Like we must remember this bullshit, so we can keep the past in the past

Holds up fifty years later. Wings got a lot of shit when I was growing up because it was decided that the Beatles should never have broken up, the world was a worse place because of Yoko Ono. It was as though we collectively shifted our angst over Lennon's assassination on Paul McCartneys post Beatles success in songwriting. Now we've had more time to digest, Lennon was not the saint he was posited to be in my youth. I don't know where I'm going with this. This album is solid. Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five is a tour de force. Five stars

Another classic. I love her voice so much so distinct almost like it could be one of your friends recording themselves. It's maybe why it's resonates so much.

Two Iron Maiden albums? I liked this one a bit more than the other.

Love the album cover. Nancy Sinatra vibes. Arctic Monkeys lead man Alex Turner's supergroup? That first track absolutely rips. I like this a lot. Sounds much older. Good production.

Ginger Baker two days in a row. Wild. This is worlds better than any cream album though. Holy smokes, funkingroovin

Soured to cream over time. Eric Clapton may be a good songwriter but he's a total twat. Ginger Baker fucking rocks

Possessive boyfriend issues is the theme of this album seemingly. Hard to tell if it's validating these feelings or poking fun at them. Maybe both. Maybe that's brilliant and a good way to hedge your bets, provoke the thought and don't push the issue hard, just a gentle nudge to cut that shit out. Either way, the music is solid, even if it's been played out.

I love the rough condensed sound. 60s garage rock outfit from Tacoma. Released by a record label in Tacoma. Like a northwest MC5. Have Love Will Travel

It's been years but this has aged well. Music for an industrial world. I remember hearing this for the first time as a boy and feeling intense fear but also fascination. Almost 30 years later and this makes me miss the boy I was, and reflect on the animal I have become.

Background music for day to day living right here

Probably should just hand copies of this out at the DMV

What is this bass? It's so good. Epitome of adult music. There is nothing childish at play here.

I love this. It's quirky and a bit zany. Clockwork Creep is my standout favorite.

True pop rock, perfectly crafted

Noisy noise. Sounds like squealing tires and highway congestion. Sounds like sweaty bodegas and the heat pouring off the concrete. Sounds like the clash between rioters and police. Sounds like the cry of a million desperate souls yearning desperately to be free of these monetary chains. Sounds like America.

Reminds me of Leonard Cohen. Poetic, wistful. The words carry a longing, remembrance of romantic experiences and yearning for a life full of them... Maybe projecting myself onto them. this record was good

Six stars

Easy listening country rock. Maybe the prototype for all easy listening country rock.

This is what I keep coming back for

Another one I needed a physical copy of

Solsbury Hill is an anthem for the ages. Rest is mid.

This was a surprise, I love this. That last track really hits. Cinematic, those cellos absolutely ripp

I wasn't sure about this at first. Reluctantly I let it ride and I was taken for a good one. The vocals are a bit whiny at times, but dude can't help it. This is good music. I love the rolling bass licks and there is some wild polyphonics going on in some of these tracks. It made me think of the Mountain Goats, which is always a good thing in my book

I yearn to be in the room for a performance like this.

This is a great anytime album. Not mind blowing, but well crafted pitch perfect pop rock.

Transcendent

Experiments in sound. Not exactly catchy, but damn it's got so many layers and textures. Like a well crafted sandwich with weird shit on it

This goes harder than soft boys should. Love that contrast. You know these guys are probably sweethearts

Meh, not my cup of tea. Going for baroque

This is what I'm here for. Discovering artists with unique sounds that transcendent genre and defy musical conventions

I love Willie Nelson, but I find it unfathomably lazy for the editors to include an artist twice.

I listened to the whole thing. Felt like a chore.

Ugh

This blew me away. Instant favorite

Hit after hit after hit after hit. Ubiquitous

Some of this really resonated with me. I like this kind of folksy Roma, vaguely zydeco indie rock.

Classic but played the fuck out

One of my favorites

What the hell is this? Fun in stereo but I really need more time with this to decide if I really like it or if I understand it even.

Even lesser Bowie is still better than most music

The year is 2005 and I'm in the driver seat of my Ford focus sedan. My best friend Dan is in the passenger seat and his girlfriend Sonya, is in the back seat. We're headed to the Green Day concert American idiot tour. I have this album playing on our way to the show. Sunday morning comes on. You know the first song and Sonya in the back seat says "what the f*** is this gay ass s***?! F**in f*g music. Turn it off" I tried to expound the fact that without Lou Reed, we might not have Green Day or pop punk at all but she wasn't having none of my Longview historical perspective. Well needless to say Dan and Sonya didn't last very long after that but our love for velvet underground and Nico live on. Wherever you wound up, Sonya, I wish you the best

Tom waits is a total mood.

In every dream home a heartache, How can a song about a blow up doll go so fucking hard?

Soundtrack to hallucinate to or simulate hallucinations

Ugh I have to perform dialectics to like this, but part of me really does like it, it's solid and all, but fuck Morrissey.

Tight explosive set. Love that seamless flow from Cowboy Song to The Boys Are Back in Town. Bass is really tight. Never noticed before

I really have to be in the mood for blues for it to really nail me to the floor. This is objectively good blues music though.

Low key great album

Has every song on this album been sampled by 90s rap artists?

Mostly noise, but I like it anyway

The stereo version is annoying on headphones. I don't really love the vocals coming from a single ear.

It's fine, but I really fucking hate Morrissey

Classic Afro Cuban

Six stars

Jam band, super jammy. Meh

Still very jammy, but I enjoyed this way more than the last Yes album on this list. There's some wild time signatures in here and I can dig it. The organ, synths and drums are stand outs.